The Others
by WHENICOMEAROUND
Summary: The castaways know there are other people on the island. But who are they? Where did they come from? Why won't they show themselves? The castaways make an amazing discovery deep in the jungle... what will it be? Please read and review! CHAPTER FIVE IS UP
1. Default Chapter

THE OTHERS The castaways know there are other people on the island. But who are they? Where did they come from? Why won't they show themselves? The castaways make an amazing discovery deep in the jungle... what will it be? Please read and review! PS- Please be nice, this is my first Fan Fiction! ;)

CHAPTER ONE Kate dipped her toe into the water. It felt cool and refreshing. She stuck her entire foot in the water, then gradually waded in. She swam for a whole hour without realizing that much time had passed. Once her fingers turned into raisins, she climbed out and dried herself off. She walked back to the caves. It was almost dinnertime, and someone was probably in need of help. Somewhere.  
She found Saiid and Shannon, translating the French lady's papers. Shannon was attempting to figure out what it meant, while Saiid nodded occasionally and tried to understand. "Hi guys," she said. Saiid greeted her with a smile, but Shannon continued to work as if Kate had never shown up.  
What a jerk, Kate thought. She continued walking until she spotted Claire, who was reading a book.  
"Hi, Kate." Claire said, without looking up. "Hi, Claire." Kate said. She sat down beside Claire. "What are you reading"  
"Oh, just a little something I had with me on the plane." Claire held up the book. Shakespeare's sonnets. "Oh. Nice." Kate said. She bid Claire good-bye, then went to find Jack.  
"Hey, Freckles." Saywer said as Kate passed him. Kate wanted to ignore him, but he kept talking.  
"Lookin' for the rocket scientist, I suppose? Well, he's not here. He went off in the woods with Daniel Boone and blondie a few minutes ago"  
"What are they doing?" Kate wanted to know, assuming that Jack had gone into the jungle with Boone and Locke.  
"I don't know. Lookin' for somethin, I guess." Sawyer smiled. "I'm still here, if ya wanna talk"  
"No, thanks." Kate said. She kept walking. Hurley was playing frisbee with Walt on the beach. Kate sat down against a tree, watching. "Aw, nice one, dude!" Hurley said as the frisbee went flying over his head. "You could be in the major leagues or somethin'!" "Thanks!" Walt called back. He called to Kate, "Want to play with us"  
Kate sat up. "No thanks, Walt. I'll just watch"  
Walt shrugged and turned back to his game.  
Suddenly, Kate felt a hand on her shoulder. She spun around. It was Jack.  
"Come with me." Jack whispered.  
"Okay," Kate whispered back. She followed Jack into the woods.  
They walked on and on. They walked until Kate's feet hurt. They walked. And walked. And walked. She didn't know how much time had passed since Jack had gotten her. The sky was darkening. She followed Jack into territory she had never been in before. She didn't know how far they were from camp. It's a good thing I trust Jack, she thought. They were really far from home now! Kate would have never been able to get back on her own.  
Jack finally broke a branch and motioned for Kate to go through.  
"What the..." Kate and Jack stepped into a clearing in the woods. There were tents and rickety shacks, and lean-tos against trees. There was a place in the center of it all that said there could have once been a campfire there. As far as they could tell, this place had been inhabited by human life before.  
Boone was also standing nearby, next to a tree, though Locke was nowhere to be seen. This problem was solved three minutes later, when Locke emerged from the brush with Saiid. "What is this place?" Kate asked. "We know it was a campsite," Jack said. "We just don't know who was here before us"  
"Could it be the French woman?" Saiid questioned, stepping over what looked like a child's shoe. "And whoever was with her"  
"We don't know if there was anyone with her, that's the problem." Locke said. He looked inside one of the lean-tos. "Look at this!" Kate, Jack, Saiid, and Boone ran over and looked.  
And sure enough, there was a perfect replica of a hospital. There was a small pot that seemed to be posing as a sink, several jars of medicine, cotton swabs, and peroxide. A blanket was laid down in the dirt, and they could only guess that it was a bed. "This is stuff we could really use," Jack said, looking at some cans of medicine he had found in a nearby box. "Painkillers... cough medicine... all of this stuff... but whose is it"  
Saiid was looking through a suitcase nearby. "Clothes. Shoes. But no evidence of people. Whoever lived here obviously didn't plan on leaving"  
Boone, who had been pretty quiet up until now, spoke up.  
"Er... should we tell the others"  
Everyone looked up.  
"The others?" Saiid repeated. "Yeah, you know. Charlie and Hurley and Michael and all them. Do you think they should know about this"  
Jack shook his head unsurely. "I don't know, Boone"  
"Wait. Maybe he's right. If we just keep secrets from each other all the time we won't be able to trust anyone." Kate said. "I say we tell the rest of them"  
Saiid nodded. Locke rubbed his forehead. "Yeah, I guess." Locke said. Jack nodded too. "Okay. We'll leave it now and come back in the morning." Jack checked his watch. "It's late. And we'll need help looking through some things anyway. We could really use this stuff"  
The five of them trekked back to camp. Once they got there, they alerted several people about it.  
Kate approached Jack.  
"Should we tell him?" she asked.  
"Tell who"  
"You know," she said, motioning towards the corner. "Sawyer"  
Jack looked from Sawyer to Kate. "I don't know," he said. "There's a lot of useful stuff there. If he takes it we could really get screwed over"  
Kate shuffled her feet. "Maybe we could compromise with him"  
"Maybe," Jack agreed. "But let's not do anything until he finds out." Kate nodded. The next morning, as soon as everyone was awake, the castaways set out to the found campsite. Everyone but Sawyer. Sawyer had no idea anything was going on. He was still asleep when the survivors left.  
"Okay." Jack said once they approached the site. "Find anything that might be useful and leave it here." He drew an X in the dirt with his foot. "Clear"  
They set out. There was a lot of things there in the campsite. It didn't look like it had been used in weeks. Maybe even months.  
"I don't see a lot of clothes or anything," Saiid called. "Maybe this is where Ethan lived"  
Jack looked up from the box of medicine. "It could be. Keep looking"  
"Yo, DUDE!" Hurley yelled. "Batteries! Toothpaste, and a toothbrush. Soap! There are pots and pans- JACK, DUDE"  
Jack ran over to where Hurley had found some items. There were spices, canned foods- all in one little tent.  
"Wow," Charlie said, looking inside. "What would one person do with all this"  
"Better question," Michael said. "What would Ethan do with all this?" "We're not even sure this stuff belonged to Ethan," Kate said. "We just know it's someone's." Nevertheless, they took what they wanted and went back to camp. Only to find that Sawyer had helped himself to some of their items. He took several crucial items to the camp- including some things from Jack's medical bag.  
It only took the castaways a few minutes to find out that their things were gone. But by that time, Sawyer had locked himself in his place with his stolen goods. "Sawyer. We know you have it." Kate called. "Just give it back and we'll go on with our lives"  
"No!" Sawyer called back. He knew he could get Kate to do anything he wanted if he played his cards right. "Unless... Kate, come in here"  
"Don't go." Jack whispered to Kate, grabbing her arm. "Remember last time"  
Kate pulled free of Jack's grip. "I can take care of myself." she said. "Let me just see what he wants"  
Kate went into the confinement. "What do you want, Sawyer"  
"Tell me where you guys were this morning." he commanded. "Then maybe I'll give you Jack's junk back"  
"I don't have to tell you anything. Give me the bag, Sawyer"  
"Now, now, Katie." he said. "No need to get testy. Just tell me where you were"  
"That's none of your business. Give me the bag, Sawyer!" Sawyer sat back and watched Kate get madder. "You know, I don't really feel like it." he said. "Unless, of course, you'd like to tell me where you went"  
"GIVE ME THE BAG, SAWYER!" Kate yelled. She pounced on him and grabbed the bag. She ran out of Sawyer's spot before he could stop her.  
"GET BACK HERE, GIRL!" he yelled. He chased her through the jungle. Finally, Kate jumped up a tree and he gave up.  
"Alright, you win." he said. "Just tell me where you were"  
Kate jumped down. "In the woods." she said. Then she walked back to camp, leaving Sawyer all alone. 


	2. Claire's Baby

"Ugh..." Claire fell to her knees on the sandy beach where she was walking with Charlie. "Claire? Claire? What's wrong, love?" Charlie asked frantically. "My stomach... the baby!" Claire whispered. She clutched her stomach. "Charlie..." she whispered. "Get Jack"  
"Don't you want... shouldn't I"  
"GET JACK"  
Charlie stumbled and ran off to the caves, screaming away.  
"Jack! JACK! Where's the doctor? WHERE'S JACK?" Charlie demanded of Hurley, who was innocently walking by with a fishing net.  
"Whoa, dude. Calm down. He's in the jungle with Locke. Should be back any minute now"  
"Calm down? CALM DOWN? CLAIRE IS IN LABOR AND YOU TELL ME TO CALM DOWN?" Charlie shrieked.  
"Claire's in what? Dude! We have to get... JACK!" Charlie and Hurley ran through the woods, screaming for the doctor.  
"What?" Jack said irratably, emerging from the plants. "What's the matter"  
"It's Claire.. she's on the beach, and she"  
Jack didn't need to hear the rest. He ran to the caves and grabbed his medical bag. A small crowd of people had already formed around Claire. "Blankets!" Jack said. He turned to the first person he saw. "Shannon! Kate! Get some blankets!" They nodded and ran, "AAAH!" CLaire screamed. "Jack! Jack, it hurts!" Jack bit his lip. Should she be in this much pain? He didn't know anything about delivering babies. "Claire, you need to calm down." Jack said as Claire cried out in pain again. He turned to Charlie. "You need to calm her down!" Charlie bent down next to Claire. "Did you hear that, love?" he whispered soothingly. "Calm down. Here, take my hand"  
Claire grabbed Charlie's left hand and squeezed it. "AAAH!" Claire cried out again. She bit her lip and closed her eyes tight. "You need to calm down, Claire." Kate said. She had returned with blankets and water and was standing beside Claire at Jack's side, ready to take any order on a minute's notice. Claire nodded, but her pale face was still sweaty. She gripped Charlie's hand with all her life. "JACK!" Claire yelled. She gripped Charlie's hand harder. His knuckles turned white. "It hurts!" Jack looked around at the survivors. They all looked just as scared and puzzled as he did. "Here, Claire. Breathe, now. In, out, in, out"  
Claire began to inhale and exhale. Charlie looked like he was in great pain from having his hand nearly broken off, but he smiled anyway.  
"Claire, dear..." he said. "Relax..." "IT HURTS!" Claire screamed. Jack looked. So did Charlie.  
Then Charlie fainted.  
Jack only had three seconds' worth of a glance at Charlie before Claire screamed again and a minute later, a small head was visible.  
"AAAH!" Claire screamed. The castaways watched in anxiety as Claire gave birth to a small, red-faced.  
"It's a boy!" Jack cried. Claire smiled. Then she, too, fainted. Three hours later, Claire was lying on a makeshift bed, her new baby boy in her arms. The castaways smiled and cooed at the baby.  
"What will you name him?" Kate asked.  
She looked at Charlie, who had come around since his fall. He was smiling broadly at her side.  
"I wanted to name him Alex," she said. Then she smiled. "Alexander Charles, after the person who knew he was coming and was with me the whole way"  
Charlie smiled. Claire still felt weak and tired for a week or two after Alex's birth. She needed a lot of help doing things she never needed help with before, and besides feeling weak, she needed help taking care of Alex.  
The only person who really knew how to take care of a baby was Michael, who had raised Walt for two years. "Don't ask me what to do when he's eight years old, though," Michael warned. "I missed that part"  
Claire laughed. "If we're lucky we'll all be off the island before Alex is eight," she said. One day, Claire was taking a walk to get some water. Kate was rocking Alex to sleep, so Claire was free from her parenting duties for a few minutes. She put her feet in the cool water. Aaah, she though. She hadn't had a bath in two weeks. Claire smiled. It felt so good to not be constantly worrying about the contents of her stomach anymore. Even though she still feared what might happen to Alex- malnutrition, sickness... anything could happen. Especially here on the island.  
"Hey." A person approached from behind. It was Charlie. "Hi," Claire said. She motioned for Charlie to sit down next to her. He took off his shoes and joined her in the water. "Where's the baby?" Charlie asked. "With Kate," Claire said. "She's putting him to sleep for me"  
"Ah." Charlie said. He stopped beating around the bush. "It was sweet of you to name him after me. I mean, I did faint and all"  
"Charlie," Claire said. "If it wasn't for you, I could have lost Alex. Thank you"  
They sat in silence for a few minutes. Then the silence was broken by a splash.  
"Oops. Sorry!" Walt called. Vincent had jumped into the water, spraying Claire, Charlie, and Walt with water. "VINCENT! Come back here!" Vincent swam over to Charlie and licked his hand. Charlie smiled and gave Vincent a pat on the head.  
"I'm sorry, Charlie." Walt said. "I don't know what's gotten into him lately! He ate one of my Dad's socks the other day, and just this morning he knocked Shannon over on her way to the spring." "Hey now, that's okay." Charlie said to Walt. "I like dogs. But I bet Shannon doesn't like him too much"  
"She doesn't," Walt said with a laugh. He bent down and picked up Vincent's leash. "Come on, Vincent. See you later, Charlie. Claire"  
"Bye, Walt." Claire and Charlie waved. Vincent and Walt disappeared. After Walt and Vincent left, there was a cry from the camp.  
"Alex," Charlie and Claire said together. They stood up and dried their feet. Claire went back to camp where Kate sat with the baby. "He was fine a minute ago. I don't know what happened!" Kate said frantically, patting the baby on the back. "That's all right. Here, let me have him." Claire said, holding out her arms. "There, there, love. Mummy's here." Alex stopped crying the instant he met Claire's touch. Then he began to scream again.  
"He's hungry." Claire said. "I'd better go feed him"  
Claire went into the caves to nurse her baby. But she stopped at the sound of her own name.  
"Claire's baby won't live for long without proper nutrition," Jack's voice was saying. "He could die any minute"  
"We're running out of food fast," Locke's voice said. "Even the things we found at the campsite won't last long. There's probably more, but I can't say"  
"We're just lucky Claire can nurse him for a while. One less mouth to feed. But Claire will need extra nutrition to build up her system again. Birthing is a lot on a person's body." Jack said.  
Claire cleared her throat and walked into the clearing. "Hello," she said.  
Locke and Jack exchanged a glance.  
"Claire, we're worried about the health of your little one here," Locke said. "We don't know what's going to happen tomorrow, or the day after that"  
"Yes, but like you said. One less mouth to feed until Alex gets too old to live off me- and with any luck, we'll be off this ruddy island by then." Claire said knowledgeably.  
"How much did you hear?" Jack asked.  
"How long were you talking for?" Claire asked.  
"It's rude to eavesdrop," Jack said with a smile.  
"I know," Claire said. "What's this about not having enough food"  
"It's not that we don't have enough," said Locke. "We're just running out fast. But Boone and I have been hunting lately. We should have a boar any day now"  
Claire smiled. "That's good news. Please tell me if you need any help"  
"That's all well and dandy, Claire, but you have to build up your system. Birthing is a lot on someone's body, you heard me. You'll need plenty of rest and nutrients before you can do anything again." Claire nodded. Alex began to cry again.  
"Oops. Gotta go. This little one's hungry," she said. She walked off to a corner to feed her baby.  
"That's all right," Claire said to Alex as he drank. "We'll be just fine. Or at least, you will." Suddenly, there was a noise from the corner. Claire spun around to where the person was.  
"Give me the baby." the person said. Claire could not identify the voice.  
"GIVE ME THE BABY!" the voice said, this time louder.  
Claire gulped. Now what? 


	3. Ethan's Back?

"So you must have been pretty scared right about then, huh?" Shannon said, laughing.  
Saiid chuckled. "Scared? Not then. That was nothing compared to what happened the next day! See, I was"  
Saiid's words were cut short by an ear-shattering shriek in the distance.  
"Claire!" Saiid said. He stood up and ran, leaving Shannon alone on her towel on the beach. Shannon snorted. "Thanks a lot, Claire"  
Jack dropped the pan he had been filling with water. Kate, who was standing nearby, looked at him.  
"Was that Claire?" she asked. She picked up her bag and ran, Jack right on her tail.  
Several other people had heard it too, and they all seemed to have met in the jungle.  
"Where is she? Where's Claire?" Charlie said. "Where is she? WHERE IS CLAIRE?" Charlie grabbed the nearest person (Hurley) by the shoulders and shook him menacingly.  
"Charlie. CHARLIE!" Jack said. "You need to chill out! We don't know where Claire is. That's what we're looking fo"  
"JACK! JACK, JACK, HELP ME!" Claire's voice came. "That way!" Michael said, pointing in the direction Claire's voice was coming from.  
They ran. Claire was sitting on the ground, bruised and harassed-looking. Alex was lying beside her, and standing above them both was a man that looked exactly like-  
"ETHAN!" Claire was crying. Charlie did the first thing that came into his mind. He went over to the Ethan clone and socked him in the face.  
The man who looked like Ethan gasped and put his hand to his chin where Charlie had hit it.  
"Don't... you... DARE..." Charlie hissed as he hit the man over and over. "Touch... her. Understand me"  
"Why"  
"DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?" "YES!" "Charlie!" Kate yelled as Charlie's hand went up again. "DON'T HURT HIM"  
In the midst of it all, Michael and Locke had managed to grab the man that looked like Ethan and trap his hands behind his back. Charlie aimed another punch. "DON'T!" Saiid cried. "He can tell us something"  
"No he can't," Boone said. "Look at him. He's unconscious"  
The man was hanging limply from Locke and Michael's arms, blood dripping down from one of his nostrils. Charlie ran over to Claire. "Claire. CLAIRE! Claire, are you alright"  
Claire looked up. "My baby," she whispered. "He wanted my baby!" Sun came over and gently picked up Alex. "Here," she almost said, but she caught herself. She handed Claire the baby.  
"Thank you," Claire said. She accepted the tiny body from the woman and examined him all over. He looked unharmed. Besides the fact that he was bawling his brains out, of course.  
"Here. Someone take Alex. We'll take care of Claire." Jack said. Alex was handed back to Sun, and Claire tried to stand. Her knees collapsed beneath her. "Here, love. I've got you." Charlie said. He helped her to stand and carried her back to camp. Once they arrived, he sat her down on an airplane seat. Jack took a look at her bruises.  
"Did he hit you, Claire?" he breathed.  
"Yes... I think so." Claire said. Charlie's fists clenched once more. "Don't." Kate said, putting her hand on Charlie's shoulder so he wouldn't hurt the man.  
Michael was staring at the man. "Who is he?" he wondered out loud. "And why does he look exactly like Eth"  
"VINCENT!" A shout came from the east. "VINCENT, GET BACK HERE"  
Walt was bolting full speed at the group on the beach, his dog several feet in front of him, trailing the leash.  
"VINCENT!" Walt yelled. "GET BACK HERE"  
Hurley attempted to grab the dog and missed- Vincent ran towards Claire and licked her face.  
"Vincent!" Walt said, gasping for breath and clutching a cramp in his side. "Stop it!" "Walt, you take that dog of yours back to the campsite and tie him up." Michael demanded.  
Walt pulled Vincent off Claire. "He's been really bad lately! I don't know why, but I can't seem to control him"  
He was cut short but Vincent's barks. Vincent broke free of Walt's grip once more and ran towards the man who had attacked Claire.  
"AAH!" the man had awoken and looked around. He began to uncontrollably sneeze. "GET IT AWAY FROM ME, I'M ALLERGIC"  
He turned and tried to run to the jungle, but Locke and Michael caught him again.  
"Hey! Let go of me"  
"What's your name?" Locke demanded of the person in a harsh voice. "Ni-Nikkolas." He said. He looked around. "Please. Just let me go"  
"Nikkolas what?" Locke said in the same harsh voice.  
"Robb, but"  
"Robb. Do you know Ethan Robb?" Hurley said.  
"Well, duh, he's my brother!" Nikkolas said. "My twin, actually"  
"That's why you look just like him, eh?" Locke said fiercely. "HE TRIED TO TAKE MY BABY!" Claire yelled. "I DID NOT!" Nikkolas shouted back.  
"Yes, he did! He said 'give me the baby' and when I refused, he kicked me!" Claire shouted. She breathed in and out. Alex began to cry in Sun's arms again.  
"That's not her baby!" Nikkolas said. "He's mine"  
This was by far the strangest thing any of them had ever heard.  
"What are you talking about, dude?" Hurley demanded. "We watched her birth the child, he cannot possibly be yours!" Saiid agreed. "No, no, NO!" Nikkolas said. "My brother... Ethan... he drugged you! He put... something, I forgot what it was called- in your spring! Please, please, just listen to me"  
The castaways listened, but they did not let go.  
"He drugged your water to make you think Claire was pregnant. She wasn't even really expecting when she got here! It made you all think she was, and she believed it too"  
"But I knew!" Claire yelled. "Before I came! Eight months before I even got on the plane, I knew I was pregnant!" Nikkolas held up his free hand, which was snatched back by Michael. "No. You thought you were. You see, Ethan was a psychic living in Australia when he met Claire. He knew you would all end up here. Ethan drugged Claire to think she was pregnant. He drugged her boyfriend to think he had done it. He switched the sonograms to make the doctors think it too"  
"Load of bull," Charlie grunted, but he kept listening anyway.  
"Ethan knew you were all coming to this island. He planned on hiding on the plane you were going on and killing you off one by one once you all got here. He convinced me to come with him"  
"But why would he do that? And why did you come if you knew the plane would crash?" Saiid questioned.  
Nikkolas hung his head in shame. "Ethan was born with a mental defect. He gets no sense of happiness from things normal people do, but killing people makes him happy. "For years I have lived with him. He constantly threatened to kill me, to hurt me, to do something to me. I had had trouble with the law before and I didn't need anything more." Nikkolas balled his fists. "I wanted him dead. I wanted him out of my life once and for all.  
"So. I figured that I would believe him, and once we got here, I'd kill him." He grinned. "Only Austin Powers over here did that for me, eh"  
He pointed to Charlie, who blushed. "Bull!" Jack called out. "There's no such thing as a mental defect where someone is happy from other people's misery! I'm a neurologist, I should know!" Nikkolas glared at the speaker. "Ethan was the only known man in the world to have it"  
"He's making it up." Kate said. "Jack would know about it"  
Jack flahsed Kate a huge smile. "Yeah, I would!" From his spot where he stood, several people behind Kate, Sawyer saw this action and snorted. "Besides," Hurley said. "There's no such thing as psychics!" "Yes, there is." Claire said softly. She snapped back into it. "But Ethan couldn't possibly be one!" "Why ever not?" Nikkolas said.  
Claire thought. "Because... because..." she stumbled. "Oh, I know!" she looked around at the castaways. "The psychic that told me to come here told me that you have to be very, very intelligent and aligned with the world to be able to see into the future. Ethan had a brain defect! It was impossible." She folded her arms smugly in a "Ha!" sort of way. "That's a lie." Nikkolas accused. "It is not. If Claire says she's telling the truth, then she's telling the truth." said Charlie.  
"Can you tell us this, Nikkolas?" Jack said. "Are there any more people on the island"  
Nikkolas looked at them. "Yes"  
"Do you know them"  
"Now I do. Yes." he looked around at all the castaways. "We've met them in the past"  
"If Ethan was a psychic," said Kate. "Then when are we getting off this island"  
Nikkolas sighed. "We will never know"  
The survivors figured that they probably got all the information they could out of Nikkolas, but they weren't taking any chances. They kept him in the camp where they knew they could find him, and he was never alone. At night they tied his hands to a tree and didn't let him go anywhere without someone else.  
"Do you think he's telling the truth?" Shannon asked Saiid. "Nikkolas"  
Saiid sighed and pushed a lock of Shannon's blond hair behind her ear. "I don't know"  
"I think he's telling the truth. Nothing else makes sense. It could happen." Shannon said. Hurley sat, alone, as usual, in the distance, watching all this go down. He sighed. He turned to his left. Claire and Charlie sat, playing with baby Alex. On his right Jack and Kate were talking and laughing.  
Hurley sighed again. He was all alone out here. The only person he had was himself. Who was going to protect him if something happened? No one wanted the fat guy around. His thoughts were interrupted by the rustling of leaves in the background. "Hurley"  
Hurley turned around. "where is he?" 


	4. Kate And Someone NOT JACK OR SAWYER

"You know," Kate was saying to Sun as they cultivated their small garden together. It was early morning, and everyone else were either just waking up or already beginning their duties. "I think Nikkolas is lying"  
Sun pulled her hair from her face. "I don't know," Sun said. "It could be true"  
"No, really. Consider the facts. I mean, the whole brain disorder Ethan supposedly had? I don't think that really exists. I mean, Jack said"  
"Jack said what?" Sawyer approached from the distance. Sun excused herself and went to find Jin. Kate wished she wouldn't. She hated being alone with Sawyer. The person she really wanted to be alone with was Jack. "Jack said what?" Sawyer repeated. "And don't say you don't remember, 'cause I see you hang on every word that damned man says"  
Kate shifted her weight from one foot to the other and crossed her arms. "You're just jealous, Sawyer. You could never be as intelligent as Jack"  
Sawyer snorted. "Sure. Intelligent. It takes a regular genius to determine someone stupid"  
"You really are jealous, aren't you?" Kate said. "Otherwise you wouldn't be so mean to Jack all the time." "Yeah, right. Me, mean to Jack"  
"Yeah, you mean to Jack! Why else do you cause chaos around here? to give Jack a hard time. That's why. And guess what? You're not impressing me, either." Kate stalked off.  
Sawyer sighed. He really blew it this time.  
Meanwhile... "Where is he?" Jack repeated. He had emerged from the brush behind Hurley, and he was rather stressed out.  
"Who?" Hurley asked. "Nikkolas. He was tied to the tree a minute ago, and now he's gone. Where could he have gone"  
Hurley scratched his forehead. "Did someone take him to... you know, do his business"  
"You mean go to the bathroom"  
"If we had a bathroom, yeah"  
Jack chuckled. "Okay. I'll try and find Saiid or Locke, see if they did anything with him." Jack left to find Locke or Saiid, or maybe even Charlie, who might have known where Nikkolas was.  
"Hey, Jack." Kate said to him as he passed her. "What are you looking for"  
"How did you know I was looking for something?" Jack asked with a smile.  
Kate fell into step with Jack. "I know you." she smiled, too. Jack looked at her. She was pretty when she smiled. "So what are you looking for"  
Jack hesitated, but he knew he could tell Kate. "Nikkolas"  
"He's gone"  
"Well, I don't know that. Maybe Saiid or someone took him to use the bathroom. If we had a bathroom, I mean"  
Kate laughed, but then she got serious again. "Do you think he's gone"  
"I'm not really sure, Kate." Jack said.  
"Why don't I go back to camp and see if anyone over there has seen him. You keep looking"  
"Okay." Jack said. He smiled again.  
"See you." Kate left. She was halfway to camp before she heard an deafening scream.  
"HELP ME!" Kate ran. She reached camp. "HELP ME!" Shannon was screaming. Kate almost wanted to walk away and leave her to deal with whatever she was screaming about alone. But Kate had a soul. "What's wrong?" Kate said. In the woods, near the spring, Shannon was screaming. Kate was all alone with her.  
"What's the matter?" Kate said frantically. "Should I get the doctor? Or Boone"  
"Get my brother!" Shannon screamed. "BOONE"  
Her brother appeared. "What are you screaming about"  
Shannon could barely speak. she was sweating and shaking and very, very nervous. "HE TRIED TO HURT ME"  
"Who's he?" Boone asked, leaning beside his sister and trying to calm her down. "Shannon, you're going to have an asthma attack if you don't calm down"  
"NIKKOLAS!" Shannon said hysterically. "He was here, and he tried to kill me! He tried to kill me and- I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP"  
Kate and Boone did not seem to believe Shannon, so they were giving her looks of utmost craziness.  
"You guys seriously think that I'm lying to you?" Shannon said in disbelief.  
Boone didn't say anything, but Kate was never the kind of person to keep her mouth shut.  
"I believe you, Shannon, but why should I help someone who completely ignores me and doesn't help anyone but herself?" Kate stalked off, leaving Shannon alone with her brother. "What's her problem?" Shannon snarled.  
Boone shook his head. "No. She's right. You're just a selfish bitch. And that's all you'll ever be"  
He left too.  
He found Kate, who was swimming alone in the spring.  
"Kate!" he called. She looked up. "Can we talk"  
Kate nodded, then she got out and dried herself with her shirt. she sat down on a rock beside Boone.  
"I'm sorry about Shannon," he said. "That's just how she is." "Don't be sorry." said Kate. "It's not your fault"  
"She won't appreciate what she has when it's there," Boone said. "That's her problem. I hate her, too. I just can't leave her, though..." he trailed off and choked up at the same time.  
"Why not?" Kate asked. "She didn't do anything to you, did she"  
"It's not that," Boone said. "It's just... it's complicated"  
"Please tell me," Kate said. Boone said, "When I was seventeen, my mother was diagnosed with cancer"  
Kate half-whispered, "Oh, I'm sorry." Boone went on. "I spent every waking moment by her bedside. Shannon only came when she wanted to. After all, my mother was only her stepmother.  
"My mother's cancer didn't get any better. One day the doctors told me she was going to die. I... I just..." Boone bit his lip, determined to not cry. "Did she?" Kate breathed.  
Boone nodded. "Yeah. A few days later. I was with her. And the last thing she said to me was, 'take care of Shannon"  
Kate was staring at Boone, listening to every word he said. "A few days later, my stepfather- Shannon's father- died too"  
"How did he die?" Kate asked.  
Boone shuddered. Then, he whispered, "Suicide"  
Kate gasped.  
"He couldn't stand losing my mother, and he didn't want to live with the heartache"  
A single tear dripped down Boone's face, but he turned away so Kate wouldn't see it. "Boone," Kate whispered. "I'm so sorry"  
Kate had already seen him crying, so she gently wiped his cheek with her finger. Boone almost smiled.  
He looked at Kate. "You're really pretty, you know." he whispered.  
"You're really nice, you know." she whispered back. "You're nothing like Shannon"  
And then the space between their lips disappeared, and they were all alone in the jungle.  
Or so they thought. 


	5. Just Friends

Sawyer, who had been watching this all go down in the brush, clenched his fists. He hated Boone more than anything in the world right now. He wanted to run out and stab him, but Kate would never forgive him if he did.  
Sawyer stood up. He was so angry. But he couldn't possibly do what he wanted to relieve his anger.  
He walked away, trying not to make noise so Kate wouldn't kill him. He decided to go swimming in the spring. But once he got there, he didn't feel much like swimming. He knelt down and drank some water. He paused for a moment. Was the crazy dude really right? Had Ethan really drugged the water.  
"What am I thinking?" Sawyer muttered. He drank some more, then he splashed his face. He stared at his reflection. He smacked it. "You're an idiot, Sawyer." he said to the water. "You just blew the best chance you could have had with a girl. It's over"  
He left. He was still furious. He took a walk back to the the caves. He bumped straight into Jack.  
"Oh. Hey Sawyer." Jack said. He usually ignored Sawyer when he saw him, but today he'd decided to try and be nice. Maybe Sawyer would return the favor.  
"Hey," Sawyer said, but he was proccupied.  
"what's wrong?" Jack asked him.  
"Nothing." Sawyer mumbled. "Okay." Jack said. He began to walk away.  
"Yeah, and Freckles and Boone over there were just makin' out." Sawyer called, getting madder with each word he spoke. Jack turned around. "What"  
Sawyer sighed. "Boone," he said. "and Kate. I saw them kissin"  
"You're kidding"  
Sawyer looked at Jack. "You don't wanna believe me, you don't have to believe me. But I'm telling you, I saw it with my own eyes." When Jack gave him a look of disbelief, Sawyer said, "I'm only trying to help"  
Sawyer turned and left, leaving Jack all alone.  
It's a lie, was the first thought in Jack's mind. Kate would never do that to him. She liked him. Did she really? How could he be so sure.  
Jack was angry and confused. He kicked a nearby tree stump. "JACK!" Saiid was running from the direction of the beach. "JACK! Nikkolas- he escaped, but we found him"  
Jack ran to catch up with Saiid. "What"  
"Nikkolas escaped- we don't know how, but Shannon found him, and he's back at the caves"  
"That's all?" Jack said.  
"No." Saiid said. "Shannon claims to have been attacked by him. She seems fine, just a little distraught"  
Jack went to the caves to see. shannon was leaning beside the cave wall, and Nikkolas had been secured once more. Boone was nowhere to be seen. Neither, to Jack's disappointment, was Kate.  
"Are you alright?" Jack asked Shannon.  
"Yes." Shannon replied. "I think so"  
Jack checked her out just to be sure. But once he was finished (she was fine), he went to find Kate.  
He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw her alone on the beach. Darkness was falling. He sat down beside her.  
"Can I ask you something"  
Kate didn't answer.  
"Kate"  
Kate was staring at the waves. "Kate, can I ask you something"  
Silence. Then,  
"I'm sorry, Jack"  
Oh, no. Jack thought. She didn't.  
"Sorry for what?" Jack asked.  
Kate was crying. "I shouldn't have played you like that. But I swear to you, I didn't do this on purpose. I really, really, really liked you." Jack's heart broke. "Kate," he whispered.  
"I'm so sorry." she whispered through the tears. "I didn't mean to hurt you"  
Jack was beyond being nice anymore. He'd really liked this girl, and then there she goes with some other guy.  
"Yeah, well..." he fumbled for words. "You did." Kate was still crying. "Trust me, Jack, I didn't mean for things to end up like this"  
"They still did, Kate. They still did." Jack stood up to leave.  
"Well, just so you know, I can't control the way I think!" she called after him.  
"I BET YOU COULD!" Jack yelled back.  
Kate got up and ran to him. "I said I was sorry!" "Sorry doesn't change the way I feel, Kate." Jack said. "Well, I don't know why I ever liked you in the first place. I didn't know you were this selfish"  
"Well, AT LEAST I NEVER KILLED ANYONE!" The second Jack said it he knew it was a mistake. Kate just shook her head.  
"I said I was sorry. And I still am sorry. And if you want to be friends, I'm still here. But if you want to go on like this, be my guest"  
Kate left.  
Jack sat down on the beach. He rubbed his forehead. Man, he blew it this time. Boone, however, had never felt any better. He knew he'd liked Kate since the first time he saw her, at the airport in Sydney. "I just kissed the most beautiful girl in the world." He told his reflection as he took a bath in the spring that night.  
"Yeah, don't rub it in"  
Sawyer approached. Boone gasped.  
"Sawyer, come on, man"  
"No, you come on, man. Do you know how crappy I feel right now? All because of you low-life scum"  
Sawyer jumped into the water with a huge splash and punched Boone across the face.  
"SAWYER, NO!" Kate yelled. She came running when she heard the splash. "NO!" she jumped into the water.  
"And you," Sawyer hissed. "I thought you were better than this-" he pointed at Boone.  
"News flash, Sawyer!" Kate cried. "I never liked you! I HATE you! And what me and Boone do is none of your business. So just leave us all alone, okay"  
For a minute Sawyer just stood there. "I hope you're happy." he said to Boone. He splashed them both, then left.  
Boone and Kate were just standing there. "I don't care what those two say." Kate said. "I love you, and they're just full of themselves"  
Boone looked at her. He was still thrilled that she finally knew whose face he saw when he fell asleep at night. He gently pushed a strand of Kate's wet, curly brown hair out of her face. "Don't worry, Kate." he said gently. "They're just jealous"  
"It's my fault." she said. "I played Jack. I didn't like him. Why didn't I just tell him that in the first place"  
Boone didn't know what to say to her.  
"I'm going to bed." she said. she kissed his cheek. "I'll see you in the morning." Boone waved. Kate left.  
Jack was alone in the caves. Well, not alone. But he wasn't talking to anyone. He watched enviously as Charlie and Claire played with baby Alex.  
See, Kate. he was thinking. That's what we could have had. "Can I talk to you?" Kate said, approaching. Jack didn't answer her.  
"If you want to be a little kid about this, then fine. But you can't say I didn't apologize." Kate played with her fingers and looked at her feet as she talked.  
"I shouldn't have lead you to think we had something more. Because we don't, Jack. We just don't. Everything happens for a reason, you know that. This happened for a reason too"  
"Kate," Jack said. "I didn't mean to go off on you like that. I was just upset"  
"I know," she said. "Do you still want to be friends"  
Jack smiled. "There's something I could use out here"  
Kate smiled too. She excused herself and went to find a place to sleep. "Kate!" Shannon called.  
"What do you want, Shannon?" Kate asked.  
"I wanted to apologize"  
"For what"  
"For... for everything. For only thinking of myself, and for being... well, a bitch." Shannon smiled. "And as long as we're out here, we might as well get along, seeing as it doesn't look like we're getting off anytime soon"  
Kate looked at her. Was she serious?  
"So..." Shannon said awkwardly. "We can be friends now, right"  
"As long as you promise to do some of the work around here." Kate said. She broke a smile. "Yeah"  
Shannon smiled. "Thanks, Kate." she left. 


End file.
